Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama

I have been reading a biography about, arguably, the most interesting president of our nation's history-Abraham Lincoln. The book is called Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years the War Years. Today, I arrived at the point in the book that documents his shooting at Ford's Theatre and subsequent death across the street at the home of Mr. Peterson. As I read the account, I couldn't help but cry. In fact, I could've cried like I was right in that room as he drew his last breath, if I hadn't made a concerted effort at controlling myself. I am the type of person that when I read a book or watch a movie, I feel extraordinarily connected to the story, even fiction (this is why I CAN'T watch horror movies, although, not why I won't) (I just dropped a chicken nugget on my brand new computer keyboard-don't tell Chris). Anyway, back to President Lincoln. Back in 1998, we visited Washington D.C. and the various monuments. I was, indeed, awed as I stood in front of the statue of Mr. Lincoln (because of the sheer size and the powerful words on the wall), but I didn't know much of him. Now, I feel as though I know him. I hope he is in heaven, I really want to meet him. I hate to admit it, but all through the recent campaign, a nagging voice kept suggesting similarities between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Obama-beginning with their homestate of Illinois (where, incidentally, I grew up). Many historical elements are interestingly connected, to say the least. Presidency's have a way of transforming an individual. The president is the personification of America for the duration of his tenure as president. He is asked of, accused of, praised for, blamed for, smiled at, scowled at, prayed for and cursed. There is no way a person can remain untouched in a position such as this. The only power he can, logically, turn to is one higher than himself-Almighty God. My hope is that when he finds himself inadequate for the task, as all men are, he will call out to God and God will make his path straight. It can happen.
Linda

Just Stuff...

Good morning blog friends!
Yesterday was a half day of school for the Agees who attend CVCS and they are off today also. They all brought friends home last night so we had a pretty big crowd! All the girls (and I) rode horses. The guys played basketball, and worked on the fence. After that, we all sat around the family table and ate a hot meal of chili and rice with homemade biscuits. It was fun. After the big cleanup, the girls played on their myspaces and facebooks and the guys played some video games. Oh, and Abbey finished an essay titled "Hands" that she had to e-mail to her English teacher. I proofed it for her. It was really good. She is quite the writer! A few of the kids went home last night but a few stayed overnight. Sam just came in and discovered that he is NOT off school today (he is homeschooled). He just automatically thought he would be off since the big kids are. So, right now, the younger kids are in the kitchen making their breakfasts. Of course, the teenagers are sleeping! A favorite activity (non-activity) of that age, it seems. Chris is grading papers and getting ready for 9 weeks report cards. Soon, I will go to parent/teacher conference-which is kinda weird for me, having homeschooled the kids all their lives. I have found that to be one of the things I don't deal with well, not having the input I have always had. There is still plenty of homework to help them with. Believe me, they pile it on. But, the boys have a very good teacher. Her name is Anne Sullivan and she has been teaching for 30+ years. The boys just love her. A few weeks ago they (all by themselves) made her a homemade apple pie. She is that kind of rare teacher that everyone would wish for their children. Abbey kind of had a meltdown night before last. She was finishing a physics assignment here at home and she felt her teacher (Daddy) wasn't helping her enough. She cried and wailed about how she didn't know what she was doing (all along she and Chris have been telling me that she was doing well in Physics so I didn't know where to put this). I asked Chris why all of the sudden she was in a panic like this. He said "My guess, PMS." So, I told her to take a break, go check her myspace or facebook, get something to drink and come back. She did and when she came back, I never heard another whimper out of her. She had literally worked herself into a frenzy over it! Sometimes you just gotta change directions to get where you wanna go. Frustration is not a road that usually leads to success.
Well, I'm working on the 3rd annual Harmony Hill Christmas. I've ordered a few bell songs and I'm choreographing my and Abbey's tap #. It's a lot of hard work but it's worth it to see people enjoying themselves around the Holidays. It's funny how Christmas music never gets old. Well, I better go homeschool and make sure nobody makes any huge messes. I made it to the bottom of the laundry barrel last night...yeah!!! I even washed all the bathroom rugs that have been waiting in the basket for so long. I can only wash those when all the clothes are done and that doesn't happen very often! Well, I'm sure that once everybody took off all their clothes last night and put on their PJs they added about 3 more loads. Because, in truth, around here, laundry never gets done for long!

Sad.......

Well, I know that many of you are in shock about last nights results. While we can be happy that it is proven now that America is a different country (with regard to race) than she was in centuries past (and finally, Jesse and Al can shutup for good and get real jobs), we are still sad about the outcome. You (and I ) face a good bit of persecution for our beliefs with regard to this election. No matter what your real reason for not wanting Barack Obama, his supporters think you oppose him for only one reason-because he is black. I, personally, am proud that America has reached a point where we aren't collectively so predudice that only a white male can be president. But! In my opinion, Barack Obama is a con man who believes in killing babies, has close associations with anti-american people and he is not going to bring blessing upon our country. Be prepared people. Be vigilant. Watch and wait.
Linda

Scout-dini the Escape Artist!

Yesterday I corralled Scout 3 times. 2 times he was in the yard grazing but the 3rd time, he went through the woods and someone down on Aubrey Sanders Road called and said 'your horse is about to poop in the road over here'. So, still in my PJ's (which is nothing abnormal even WELL into the day), I load the littles up in the truck, and drive down the road, put Scout on a lead and lead him out the window of the truck while I drive. Thankfully, at the end of that road (out on the main road) is the Crown Point Discount Grocery. Some friends of ours from Vermont own it and it's only about 1/4 mile from our house. So, I park, walk up to the grocery store door, leading Scout. I open the door and there's Marion checking someone out. She and the customer just kinda look at me and laugh. I tell her the story and how I need to walk him home without driving the truck because he may freak with all the traffic on the main road. Another worker there, a horse person, suggests that Marion follow along behind me with flashers on. So, up the road we go, our little peculiar caravan. But, the drivers behind Marion were so impatient, they started passing her AND me and Scout. Ugh! So, anyway we make it home, I tie Scout up and offer to carry Marion back down to the store but she wanted to walk. I had to be convinced that she really wanted the stroll! She is a great person. She and her husband John are a blessing to our community. As I said, they live in Vermont (their children go to school with our children and John and Marion are very active in the school, John is on the board and Marion, among other things, runs a thrift shop that supports the school with it's proceeds) but their grocery store is in Crown Point, NY. I don't know what I would do without that store! So, thanks Marion! And, guess what, despite all the efforts to fix any way for Scout to break out, he's already out again this morning. This time I just tethered him and he's out in the front yard at this moment grazing-whew, nadm!

Yield Sign Mystery Exposed!

Okay-so somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I remember having a 'discussion' with someone (prob Chris) about the color of a yield sign. So, last week, at school, one of the boy's teachers mentioned a yield sign and it being yellow and black. Jesse, pipes up: "Actually, Mrs. Murphy, I believe a yield sign is red and white." To which she answered: "No, it's yellow and black." A discussion began and Adam concurred with Jesse. Only one other student, one of the principal's sons, agreed that a yield sign was red and white. The rest of this little enlightened community basically laughed at the boys for 'thinking' a yield sign was red and white. On the way home, the boys ask their Daddy what color a yield sign was. Guess what Daddy said? That's right.....yellow and black! So, they arrive home and Jesse greets me with the same question to which I answer 'Red and White' for which I'm rewarded with a high-five! So, Jesse begins relating the school story to me. I know this teacher, and I really like her, so I know she wasn't being prideful or obstinate (I couldn't say the same for the group of dk's in the classroom). To the computer we go, to look up yield signs, where we find that indeed a yield sign IS red and white. But, we also found that there is a great debate out there on this topic. You may wonder how there can be a debate about something that is answerable by simply looking at a yield sign. But, to a person who thinks it is yellow or yellow/black, simply proving it to them will not be sufficient. It is so imprinted on their brain that they are convinced there IS a breed of yellow/black yield signs. Well, indeed, there used to be a yellow/black yield sign but that was so long ago, that most people arguing weren't even born or couldn't remember them (They have all been red/white since 1971). For one, they were also triangular and had the word 'yield' on them but directly under that the words 'right of way'- even yellow yielders don't have that memory...lol. I'm not making fun of anyone, I just think that this phenomenon is amazing. MOST people you ask will say that a yield sign is yellow or yellow/black....try it. If it isn't most, it's an inordinate number for a sign that doesn't exist! So, if you thought a yield sign was yellow/black, you are in the majority. If you thought it was red/white, you are correct. I can only think of one reason why people think that yield signs are yellow/black. And that is because it is imprinted on the American brain, that yellow means slow down or caution, so much so that it overrides reality with regard to the yield sign. So get out there and do your own personal survey. It is rather amusing. Look it up online and see the 'discussions' including statements like this: "I don't know what country you live in but in the United States yield signs are yellow and black" to which someone replies: "They are red and white you ignorant bas#$%^!". So, there you have it-the yield sign mystery exposed. I would like to hear your yield sign thoughts and experiences. As Stacey says, don't be a blog stalker...lol.
McCain/Palin: Power to the People!

Gracie Update

Thank you to those who prayed for Gracie. She had her GI test yesterday in Burlington. Preliminarily, everything "looks normal for her". The doctor said the reason for the slow emptying of her stomach is probably because she has more "loops" than a normal person does. Of course, this is part of her abnormal anatomy and the corrections the surgeries have made. Did y'all see the catholic vote video? If you haven't, watch it-trust me, it IS good. It really puts things into perspective. http://www.catholicvote.com/
I woke up this morning and Abbs walked out of the home office. I was like what are you doing home. First, I thought she must have a migraine, but she didn't look ill. Come to find out, Scout had gotten out and she had to corral him and ended up being too late. That darned electric fence! Well, thankfully, he didn't make it far. We were surprised he even initiated a bust on his own (we separated them and put dixie in a stall in another area and they've been whinnying for each other frantically ever since-sounds like the movie Spirit around here-lol). But, anyway, an extra blessing today, Abbey is home with me and the littles. This makes me happy!
This is kinda funny. Here's the deal, we rarely ever have anything new. You know how it is, trying to make your way on a little. Buying used and keeping for decades. Well, we don't watch a lot of tv, but we do watch movies and the news. Our tv was just about gone! All the connections were worn out and if you wanted to watch a movie you had to literally jiggle the av plug to get the picture and fiddle incessantly with converter to get any sound. It was so frustrating. I have been begging Chris to get a new tv. So, our church gave us a modest monetary gift for Pastor appreciation last week. With that, we bought a tv. It is so great-I love it! It is a rather small one compared to what other people have but I am just enthralled with how thin it is. It is light as a feather and hardly takes up any room. I am now just laughing at our computer which is like a mile deep-it just goes on and on. We really need a new computer but that will probably not be happening any time soon. We try to do everything on this old job. Chris's sermons and studies, the kids schoolwork, research and essays, my computer work. We are doing good if it doesn't shut down on us while we are using it. It has a mind of it's own-lol. But, it is amazing what is out there. Technology is truely amAZing-to me!
Hey, another thought. Adam and Jesse were in class the other day when their teacher mentioned a 'yield sign'. So, my question to you is..."What color is a yield sign? Don't look it up, just answer what you think/know/believe. I'll give you the story next time!
~Lindy

Teaching Reading, Lisping Lips and Almighty God

Do y'all like teaching reading? It is not my favorite thing to do, truth be told, but, it is so rewarding when they 'get it' and start kinda rollin' on their own, with guidance. This is Liberty's year to learn to read. With the others I started at 5 but with her (kinda by default cuz i had so many to teach) I waited until she was 6. I am here to say that, in her case, I am thrilled. Once she crossed the 'phonics threshold' it has been so much easier. I love it- She talks with a little lisp (she would say 'lithp' lol) and she's reading along with her little sweet voice. I have used Rod and Staff to teach all my children to read and I am so happy to say that, so far, each of my children's first officially 'read' word was 'God'. After that first word, within a few days they are reading the story of creation. For the sixth time I am hearing these same words coming out of one of my children's mouths. "God" "God made light." "God made the light." "He made the sky." You know, I have thought about what is the most important thing to begin to teach a new Christian and it seems to me that the most important thing you could give them would be a high view of God. The same is true, in my opinion, about my children. If I can give them anything, I want to give them a high view of God. A humble place from which they can learn all the other truths that surround Him and His plan. "Our God is in heaven, He does as He pleases." As Pastor Chris Agee has said many times "If you didn't exist, what does it mean?" (in response to the thinking about God's truths "what does this mean to you?"). May my kids never presume to 'shake a fist at God'. May they always bow a humble head and raise an expectant face...

Liberty Ann

~Blessings,
Lindy